Myanmar

2013

Bangkok, December 20, 2013--A Burmese journalist was
sentenced to three months in prison on Tuesday on charges of defamation,
trespassing, and "using abusive language," according to local news reports. The
Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the conviction and calls on
the court to reverse the verdict on appeal.

Two murdered journalists for the
Africa service of Radio France Internationale, Ghislaine Dupont, 51, and Claude
Verlon, 58, might have had a chance. They were abducted on November 2 in Kidal
in northern Mali, but the vehicle their captors were driving suddenly broke
down, according to news
reports.

The media landscape in Burma is more open than ever, as
President Thein Sein releases imprisoned journalists and abolishes the former
censorship regime. But many threats and obstacles to truly unfettered reporting
remain, including restrictive laws held over from the previous military regime.
The wider government’s commitment to a more open reporting environment is in
doubt. A CPJ special report by Shawn W.
Crispin

Early
moves by Thein Sein to ease Internet censorship are viewed as a limited
concession to press freedom, since Burma has one of the lowest Internet
penetration rates in the world. Now, planned foreign investments in mobile
infrastructure promise to expand access, but a draft telecommunications law
would leave intact many of the vague legal restrictions used to curb online
freedoms in the past. By Shawn
W. Crispin

The
return of exiled Burmese media groups is one of the clearest signs of the
country’s improved reporting environment, but the outlets may struggle to
compete as Western donors reduce funding. Furthermore, journalists are worried
about losing the editorial independence they enjoyed in exile. By Shawn W. Crispin

Burmese President Thein Sein made a historic visit to the
White House on May 19, the latest in a series of high-level symbolic exchanges
between the two nations. While Thein Sein has been regularly commended by U.S.
officials for his broad democratic reform program, President Barack Obama's
praise this week overlooked a significant backtracking on promised
media-related reforms.

Bangkok,
March 25, 2013--Violent mobs have threatened journalists covering communal riots
in central Burma and destroyed their reporting materials, according to news
reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to make the
security of journalists working in the violence-hit area a top priority.

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Burma eased media restrictions in line with its historic transition from military to quasi-civilian rule. At least 12 journalists, including those associated with banned exile media groups, were released in a series of pardons. The government abolished pre-publication censorship--a process that had forced private newspapers to publish in weekly formats--and it allowed coverage of many previously banned topics, including stories on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the government did not dismantle its censorship body as promised, and it required newspapers to submit copies for official, post-publicationreview. Several restrictive laws remained in effect, including the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act and Electronic Act and the 2000 Internet Law. Two news journals, Voice Weekly and Envoy, were temporarily suspended in August for violating censorship guidelines. The government began allowing foreign journalists to enter the country, although some were still refused visas. Passage of a new media law was delayed amid journalists’ protests after a leaked draft of the legislation showed that it would fail to guarantee press freedom. A defamation case filed by the government against The Voice newspaper for reporting on alleged corruption in the Ministry of Mines signaled a possible shift to the use of courts to suppress the press.

Worldwide tally reaches highest point since CPJ began
surveys in 1990. Governments use charges of terrorism, other anti-state offenses
to silence critical voices. Turkey is the world's worst jailer. A CPJ special report